Canadian Cowboy Country Oct/Nov 2020

3 Authors 62 Million Fans and Counting

C. J. Box on Joe Pickett Baxter Black on Audio

Anna Sewell Black Beauty Bicentennial

War Wounds Horses Healing Veterans PM# 40070720

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Singing Cowgirl Naomi Bristow

What Works For Us Weaning in the Wilds of B.C.

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Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

In This Issue

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020 | VOLUME 24, NO. 3

42 WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A RODEO PHOTOGRAPHER? Pro shooter Kirt Steinke leading the pack at the 2019 Pendleton Round-Up Photo by Billie-Jean Duff/ RoughstockStudio.ca

Features 16

26 On the Cover Wyoming author C. J. Box has done the impossible. He turned a happily married, lawabiding game warden into an internationally adored hero.

Photo by Dave Neligh Photography

Author! Author!

An interview with Wyoming’s modern western writer, C. J. Box; humourist Baxter Black and his latest audiobook, plus the 200th anniversary of Black Beauty author, Anna Sewell THE WESTERNERS

Naomi Bristow, Canada's Singing Cowgirl The darling of the poetry circuit, this fine singer and yodeler has grown up in front of an audience

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Horses Heal How a small outfit in central Alberta is using horses to heal soldiers and first responders

30 TRAILBLAZERS

John J. Bowlen John J. Bowlen was a successful rancher and Alberta’s oldest serving Lieutenant Governor

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COWBOY WAY

Driven by Impulse, Part 2 of 2 Make ramming and jamming a thing of the past on your ranch

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WHAT WORKS FOR US

Weaning Time!

The heavy timber and altitude of high ranges changes everything — including weaning

Departments 4 My Point of View 7 In the Corral 12 Spirit of the West 13 Wheel to Wheel 14 Reflections 37 Pro Rodeo Canada Insider 49 Clownin’ Around 50 Cowboy Poetry 3

MY POINT OF VIEW

Terri Mason cultivating with her drafts, hooked four-across. Painting by Judie Popplewell.

Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’…

facebook.com/cowboycountrymag 4

J.K. Rowling did for children — made reading fun and exciting.

And it was great fun to speak with Baxter Black about his third audiobook.

Whether you listen from a download or CD, time will fly as you join him on his hilarious adventures.

Along with poets, another popular performer at cowboy gatherings are yodelers, and there is none finer than Ontario’s Naomi Bristow. We’ve watched Naomi grow from a young girl with a big voice to a powerhouse of a performer.

If any good comes out of this pandemic, it will be this: more readers, more writers and more musicians. For me, the two best forms of entertainment are reading and music — and it appears that many agree — here in Canadian Cowboy Country.

— Terri Mason, Editor

@CowboyCntryMag

PAINTING OF TERRI MASON AND HER 4 UP BY JUDIE POPPLEWELL

T

he theme song from the old Rawhide show has been playing in my mind as the fall (cattle) run at auction marts are in full swing to keep those dogies rollin’.

Columnist Dylan Biggs is in demand across Canada and the U.S., as a clinician and “cow whisperer.” Like someone famous once said, “If you’ve ever uttered the words, “dumb cow,” it just means that they outsmarted you.”

We salute our veterans every fall, and we’re featuring healing the mind with the help of trained professionals and horses.

Run by military veterans, Can Praxis is dedicated to helping heal veterans and first responders dealing with PTSD. In this issue, we’re also focusing on an unusual breed of people: writers. One of my favourite writers, Candice Vetter (full disclosure: she’s also my niece), has contributed a salute to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Anna Sewell, the author of Black Beauty.

It was with great pleasure I interviewed author C.J. Box, the creator of, among other characters, Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett. In my opinion, this Western writer has done for adults what

October/November 2020 Vol. 24, No. 3 Editor Terri Mason terri@cowboycountrymagazine.com Copy Editor Tamara Aschenbrenner tamara@cowboycountrymagazine.com Art Director Zuzana Benesova zuzana@cowboycountrymagazine.com Graphic Designer Erin Murphy erin@cowboycountrymagazine.com Publisher Rob Tanner rob@cowboycountrymagazine.com Sales Manager Kristine Wickheim kristine@cowboycountrymagazine.com Subscription/Circulation Marie Tanner circ @cowboycountrymagazine.com Accounting Administrator Catherine Staszkiewicz admin @ tanneryoung.com Customer Relations Manager Marie Tanner marie @ cowboycountrymagazine.com Columnists Tim Ellis, Hugh McLennan, Billy Melville, Bryn Thiessen Contributors Dylan Biggs, CrAsh Cooper, Mike Copeman, Billie-Jean Duff, Paul & Carol Easton, Tim Ellis, Tim Lasiuta, Billy Melville, Dave Neligh, Covy Moore, Tom Reardon, Candice Vetter, Sally Jean Donoghue Tanner Young Publishing Group #430, 8170–50 Street, Edmonton AB T6B 1E6 Tel: 780-465-3362 | Toll Free: 1-800-943-7336 Website: cowboycountrymagazine.com E-mail: askus @cowboycountrymagazine.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Call Marie at 1-800-943-7336 1 Year: $21.43 + tax | 2 Years: $35.71 + tax 3 Years: $46.45 + tax | Single Copy: $5.95 + tax Canadian Cowboy Country magazine is published six times per year by Tanner Young Publishing Group PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40070720 ISSN 1701-1132 Please return undeliverable addresses to: Canadian Cowboy Country magazine #430, 8170–50 Street, Edmonton AB T6B 1E6 FREELANCE POLICY Canadian Cowboy Country welcomes freelance contributions but will not be held responsible for unsolicited text or photographs.

Direct all freelance enquiries to: freelance@cowboycountrymagazine.com PRIVACY POLICY At Tanner Young Publishing Group, we value your privacy.

For our complete privacy policy go to tanneryoung.com/ privacy.html or call us at 1-800-943-7336 Canadian Cowboy Country makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions.

This magazine is a proud member of the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association, and Magazines Canada, abiding by the standards of the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors. Visit albertamagazines.com

FSC logo “This project is funded [in part] by the Government of Canada.”

«Ce projet est financé [en partie] par le gouvernement du Canada.»

Has been bringing you spellbinding conversations, the clear, crisp music of the west, horse training advice, Baxter Black and great cowboy poetry each week on a network of great radio stations since 1992.

And now you can watch and listen any time on YouTube and download the show as a podcast.

Get the details at HUGH-MCLENNAN.COM 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

CONTRIBUTORS Bill Borgwardt The Westerners: Naomi Bristow, page 26 Bill Borgwardt has been covering the Canadian entertainment and country music scene for over 25 years as a photographic historian and feature writer.

Candice Vetter Writer and photographer Candice Vetter grew up on a mixed farm in Alberta and now writes from her 160-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario.

Tim Lasiuta Lest We Forget: Healing with Horses, page 28 Central Alberta’s Tim Lasiuta is a regular contributor and a collector of western memorabilia, with a focus on the Lone Ranger.

Tom Reardon Trailblazers: John J. Bowlen, page 30 Tom Reardon of Maple Creek, Sask., is a retired pasture manager who day rides on some Cypress Hills ranches.

Tim Ellis What Does It Take: Rodeo Photographer, page 42 Tim Eliis is a radio personality, rodeo reporter and the voice of hockey’s Camrose Kodiaks. CFCW.com

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Cowboy Around the World

T

hank you for returning my phone call and taking the information so that I may renew this wonderful magazine for another three years.

This letter is regarding your Reader’s Survey form. I can only answer a few of your questions as I am not a farmer or rancher, never owned a horse or any other animal except a poodle as a pet for my two children. So why am I a subscriber to your magazine you may be thinking? I think I come by it honestly and this is why.

My ancestors emigrated from Russia when the Communists were threatening a takeover and came to the United States and bought farms in North Dakota in the late 1800s. After three very cold and snowy winters and with the Saskatchewan government offering “free land” the whole family came across the border and settled in Maple Creek.

The family grew and many became ranchers.

For 15 years or more, I have visited Maple Creek for cowboy poetry and have enjoyed it so much. I have met many of the people written up in your magazine. I go through that magazine and meet many of my relatives there.

They do not know about me, but I know about them. For instance, Nick Demchenko, who passed on recently, was featured in a recent issue. His grandmother and my grandmother were sisters. I always wanted to stop by and have a chat with him, but he was always engaged in conversation with someone else, and I never wanted to interrupt him. Now I wish that I stood on the sidelines and waited to speak to him when he was free.

So Canadian Cowboy Country magazine could have travelled with me when I visited Machu Picchu, the Galapagos, the Great Wall of China, when I climbed the bridge in Australia where one can get a good view of the Opera House, on a safari through Kruger National Park, touring the beautiful country of New Zealand and when I visited many countries in Europe such as Switzerland, Germany, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, England, and a host of others. I can say I have stood on east/west in Greenwich, north/south in Ecuador and crossed the lines of the equator and prime meridian — 0 longitude and 0 latitude off the coast of Africa.

So there you have my answers to your survey in a ‘LARGE’ nutshell as to why I enjoy your magazine so very much and hope to continue to enjoy it for years to come.

—Valentina Chubak, Victoria, B.C.

Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

PHOTO COURTESY STOCK.ADOBE.COM/APHOTOSTORY

The Legacy of Black Beauty, page 16

IN THE CORRAL NEWS, VIEWS & HAPPENINGS FROM ACROSS THE CANADIAN WEST

PHOTO BY TERRI MASON

At about the sixsecond mark, the great saddle bronc War Cry bucked off Rusty Allen, costing the cowboy the championship and $100,000 at the 2007 Calgary Stampede

The Passing of a Legend

Weatherly’s multi-award-winning saddle bronc, #52 War Cry, passed away on the home ranch near Botha in August.

Foaled in 1992, War Cry was a star saddle bronc for Big Country Rodeo. In both 2005 and 2006, the powerhouse was chosen as the CFR Top Saddle Bronc, winning a new truck for the late Stan Weatherly.

The big, powerful bay was famous for his consistency in the arena, especially for his infamous six-second surge that flung many cowboys sky-high.

The superstar was retired back to the homeplace in 2017, where he lived out the rest of his days in full retirement.

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IN THE CORRAL

Here for the Long Haul

Even the most challenging times can bring out the best experiences.

Sometimes you have to be openminded and ready to adapt to the situation at hand.

This year, I choose to be thankful, creating experiences that normally I wouldn’t have the opportunity to do

2020 & 2021 Miss Rodeo Canada, Alicia Erickson

with a full rodeo season. I’m thankful each time I am blessed with the ability to share the story of rodeo with an audience via social media or in person.

Normally, I would be writing my closing remarks on an incredible year, getting ready to hand off my crown to the next “First Lady of Rodeo.” I am so honoured to carry on the Miss Rodeo Canada title into 2021, and I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

After all, we’re all just grasping the reins, and here for the ride.

Amber Marshall to Host Rosie Awards!

Amber Marshall, star of the longest-running Canadian family drama Heartland, will host the upcoming 46th Annual Alberta Film & Television Awards (a.k.a. the Rosies) on Oct 8. The event will be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube.

“We are thrilled that Amber has come on board to host this year’s Rosie Awards,” says Bill Evans, Executive Director of AMPIA. “Amber brings a passion and energy to everything she does, and we will look for that in her role as host.”

Marshall commented, "I’m honoured to be asked to host the Rosies, as these awards are extremely important to recognize the talent we have in our province. Hosting this event via live stream is a unique opportunity to showcase this talent to a global audience."

Watch the social media pages of Cowboy Country for the link.

Lukas Cassius Riel Tournier Congratulations to multi-award-winning WPCA outrider Quaid Tournier and his wife Desiree on the birth of their son, Lukas Cassius Riel Tournier. Lukas was born June 16, 2020, and weighed 7 lbs 9 oz.

Quaid is a two-time winner of the Rod Glass Memorial Award for Most Improved Outrider and has won fifteen show championships over his career, including the Ponoka Stampede Championship outriding for Roger Moore in 2013.

Lukas is a younger brother for Kayden. Quaid is the son of 2016 World Champion Chuckwagon Driver Luke Tournier and his wife Michelle.

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Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

PHOTOS COURTESY ALICIA ERICKSON; AMPIA; QUAID TOURNIER

STOCKING THE HERD

cowboycountrymagazine.com

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IN THE CORRAL

New: Country Music Alberta Wedding!

Congratulations to Jared Parsonage and Tulsa Dawn Johnson of Maple Creek, Sask., who tied the knot on Aug 29.

Planned initially as quite a large affair, due to COVID the nuptials were scaled back.

Tulsa Dawn runs her own business as a registered massage therapist. Jared is a ranked PBR bull rider who has qualified many times for both the PBR Finals and the Canadian Finals Rodeo.

The couple resides near Maple Creek.

Western Wall

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EMPTY SADDLES “I’ve spent much of the ‘COVID times’ working on getting this record out and promoting it. Apart from that, I’ve been staying busy helping a friend in Texas. Just ranchin’, trying to make a hand. Ranching is a passion of mine, and just like music, there’s always something new to be learned. The day you stop learning, you might as well be dead.”

Joachim Fromhold 1947–2020

Honoured Cree Leader Joachim Fromhold of the Mountain Cree Asini Wachi Nehiyawak Traditional Band has passed away.

Joe, as he was known to his friends, was a well respected cultural historian, archaeologist, leader, mentor, the author of 35 books, a businessman and innovator in Central Alberta from the late 1960s to early 2020.

Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

PHOTO BY DEVINA BERGER PHOTOGRAPHY; COURTESY TIM LASIUTA

In August, Colter Wall released his new album, Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs, featuring the old Stan Jones prairie classic Cowpoke.

Colter is a young Canadian singer/ songwriter (who happens to be the son of former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall) who has a love for the old cowboy songs and cowboy life. He produced this record himself in the hill country of South Texas, proving that the cowboy “can-do” attitude (or the “Hold my beer and watch this”) attitude is just as prevalent in the recording studio as it is on the ranch.

“Producing my own record has been a goal of mine since I started putting out music,” said Wall in an email interview.

“It’s a pretty easy gig, to be honest, given you know what it is you’re after.”

Wall is influenced by several Canadian artists, including Lewis Martin Pederson — a Saskatchewan poet, songwriter, and cowboy — and the iconic Ian Tyson.

Like every other musician out there, Wall was benched when the world stopped turning.

It’s a new name, a new look and a fresh approach to country music and the folks that make it happen.

The organization hosts their own Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and, of course, their iconic broadcast, Country Music Alberta Awards.

This reinvention spurred on by the pandemic has also opened the doors to exciting online concerts. Be sure to check their website often.

You can also get a “heads-up” of upcoming events sent right to you — and yes, fans join for free!

Find them on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and of course on their website, CountryMusicAlberta.com

GIDDY UP

WITH GREG SHANNON A Campfire Conversation

Cloud’s Legacy: The Wild Stallion Returns Emmy-award-winning wildlife filmmaker Ginger Kathrens knows how to draw the reader in with her storytelling skills in both writing and photography.

She earned her spurs filming all over the world for outfits ranging from Animal Planet to National Geographic. It was when filming the two-part series on “Year of the Mustang” for Wild America that she became enamoured with the small band that roams the Pryor Mountains of Montana.

This book is the third in the series following the palomino stallion that she nicknamed Cloud. Kathrens photographed the band’s range and their interactions, all without dipping into the Disney-esque trap of anthropomorphising the horses. (Isn’t that a great word? Essentially it means humanising.)

It will take you high and away into the mountains and bring you right into the thick of this band of wild horses, and you will begin to care about their future. It’ll also make you appreciate the outdoor skills Kathrens has to write and photograph not just one, but three books of this calibre.

It’s life, death and everything in between up in the Pryor Mountains. Be sure to visit thecloudfoundation.org.

Cloud’s Legacy, The Wild Stallion Returns by Ginger Kathrens.

Softcover, 160 pages, $24.99CAD. Distributed by Fox Chapel Publishers, FoxChapelPublishing.com.

cowboycountrymagazine.com

The other night my son, brother-in-law and nephews got talking around the fire about our favourite all-time Western movies. Even though it was technically a made-for-TV miniseries, I immediately piped up with Lonesome Dove.

I was 23 when I first saw it and fell in love with the largerthan-life characters speaking Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prizewinning words and the amazing cinematography showcasing the vivid scenery of Texas and New Mexico.

If you’ve seen the movie, you can’t picture anyone but Robert Duvall in the role of Texas Ranger Augustus McCrae (“I hate rude behavior in a man. I won’t tolerate it.”), and Tommy Lee Jones playing the less verbose, more loyal Woodrow F. Call.

But, after our campfire shenanigans concluded that night, I went back to the trailer and did some googling only to discover that Robert Duvall was originally supposed to play Woodrow Call. Apparently, it wasn’t until after he read McMurtry’s book that he fought for the iconic role of Gus. After cracking another camper cold one and a bit more time online, I found out that years before the novel was even written, Larry McMurtry created a screenplay version with John Wayne being offered the role of Woodrow! The rest of the parts were offered to the heavy hitters of the day, with James Stewart tapped to play Gus McCrae and Henry Fonda the role of rogue cowboy Jake Spoon, which eventually went to Robert Urich. As the legend goes, John Wayne turned down the part and the project was shelved for more than a decade.

I, for one, think everything happens for a reason and nothing great comes easy. I was so enamoured with the series that I wore out my VHS copies of the movie and now have the DVDs, which I will watch with my grandchildren (when they are born and of age). By the way, I will be pushing hard for the names Augustus and Woodrow for my future grandsons!

— Greg Shannon, 840 CFCW Morning Show Co-Host

Email Greg with column suggestions: greg@cfcw.com Hear Greg Shannon & Co-Host Stella Stevens weekday mornings on 840 CFCW! 11

SPIRIT OF THE WEST | HUGH MCLENNAN

Western Music Goes Viral

We divided up a phone list, and the first performer I called was one of our headliners, Tom Cole. Tom understood, and he went to work, finding a way to get the songs he had planned to perform out to the folks who would have been at the festival.

A couple of weeks later we were watching the revised Academy of Country Music Awards show. Instead of being live, the Nashville superstars did cell phone videos of their songs with just a guitar. I thought the sound was pretty bad on most of them, and without their background musicians and all the enhancements, to me, they didn’t sound that great.

Then the email came in. Tom Cole had found a way, and the first concert of his new Homebound series aired on YouTube. We put it up on our big TV with our home theatre sound system, and it was awesome! Tom and his guitar appear and then like magic, smaller screens pop up, and there’s “Uncle” Mike Dygert with his bass, Beau Hughes 12

Tom Cole (bottom, left) created a masterful digital concert series, so innovative that Nashville came calling.

Top left: Sarah Murray, Beau Hughes, Middle left: Mike Dygert, Jim McLennan, Clint Giesbrecht, Bottom right: Hugh McLennan

and his steel guitar, and little brother Jim. They do three wonderful songs, and it was way better quality than the show we had just watched with the huge network budget and all the big-name country stars.

Tom’s production magic evolved into a weekly series with a guest performer on each one. The videos immediately gained an audience, and several great Western music stars from the U.S. starting asking how the heck this was done. Being the generous soul that he is, Tom put up a YouTube tutorial on everything that went into the productions.

As the COVID case count grew, events fell like dominos. Our cancelled list included The Mane Event in Red Deer, Guy Weadick Days in High River, The Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Innisfail Pro Rodeo and of course, dozens of stampedes and rodeos — including the Calgary and Ponoka Stampedes. Even our annual Spirit of the West Cruise was

cancelled. One of the most recent was Concert 83 with The Western Spirit Band joining Tom Cole and Friends in Fort St. John in September.

Performers had all their gigs cancelled.

The 44th Annual Ivan Daines Country Music Pick-Nic, however, did keep the string intact as many fine local and regional musicians performed in an open mic format.

Way to go, Ivan!

I can’t imagine how this would be, were it not for social media. Until we can join you live again, please check out Tom Cole Music on YouTube. c

Cattle rancher and horse trainer Hugh McLennan and his wife, Billie, run their cattle in the beautiful rangeland outside of Kamloops, B.C. Hugh is the host of the multi-award-winning weekly radio program, Spirit of the West, heard across Canada and the U.S.

Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

PHOTOS COURTESY TOM COLE; TOM COLE & BILLIE MCLENNAN

I

t began when the phone rang on March 13. It was Mark McMillan, president of the B.C. Cowboy Heritage Society. After much soul searching, we decided that the 2020 Kamloops Cowboy Festival would have to be cancelled.

WHEEL TO WHEEL | BILLY MELVILLE

Back in the 1920s, chuckwagon racing involved a full camp setup

The Iconic Event at an Iconic Event

T PHOTOS COURTESY BILLY MELVILLE COLLECTION

he chuckwagon races is what separates and elevates the Calgary Stampede from any other event of its kind in the entire world. It is, without a doubt, the iconic event at an iconic event. But how did it really start? As the character Tommy Devito from the multi-award-winning Broadway musical Jersey Boys says, “Ask four guys you get four different answers.” And the same can be said for chuckwagon racing.

One thing for certain is the idea of staging a chuckwagon race as an actual “event” was dreamed up by Calgary Stampede founder Guy Weadick. Now there are many thoughts on what inspired Guy Weadick’s dream. It’s been suggested that Weadick saw match races at the 1922 Gleichen Stampede between farm wagons pulled by four horses.

Or that he witnessed many impromptu races between ranch outfits at the end of a round-up where the wagons would race to the nearest town saloon and the last ones there had to buy the first round of drinks.

Stories exist of a customary gathering of pioneers and cattlemen in Miles City, cowboycountrymagazine.com

Montana, where ranch outfits would meet up four miles outside of town. The mayor would ride out to start the race to the centre of town, where the first outfit there got the best camping spot the town could offer.

There were also the historical records from the great land rushes in Oklahoma. Others claim that “Wild Horse” Jack Morton, an original participant in the first official races, was the one who suggested the idea to Guy Weadick.

The most popular legend, however, is that at the 1919 Victory Stampede, cooks from two chuckwagons were serving buffalo meat sandwiches in front of the

grandstand in celebration of Pat Burns’ birthday. Upon completion of the barbecue, the cooks loaded up their chuckwagons and a race ensued down the track as each of the two cooks tried to get through the exit gates first. This accidental race, and the eventual “colourful” ending that followed, brought the grandstand crowd to their feet and grabbed the attention of Guy Weadick.

The true story of the origins of the chuckwagon races may never be known — only Guy Weadick knows for sure — but what really matters is that Weadick realized the dream and the first “official” races took place at the 1923 Calgary Stampede. The success of the first races of 1923 saw many other communities throughout Western Canada and the United States adding chuckwagon races to their local rodeos and fairs in the years to follow. This became the basis of the WPCA Dodge Pro Tour as we know it today.

As the great radio broadcaster Paul Harvey would say, “And now you know... the rest of the story.” c

Billy Melville is an author, noted historian and chuckwagon colour commentator on Rural Radio (SiriusXM Ch 147) and CBC Sports. He is the grandson of Orville Strandquist.

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PHOTO BY STOCK ADOBE.COM/JAY

REFLECTIONS | BRYN THIESSEN

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Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

Three Little Words /// I imagine your mind is asking, what three little words is he writing about? The truth is, I’m wondering too. Let me take you back to the grass from which this thought sprouted.

It started off innocent enough. I’d been up in the forestry for a couple of days, salting and moving some cattle. I’d spent the morning drinking coffee with one of the leaseholders who was camping there for a few days. I’d headed out about 11 o'clock, thinking I’d move some cattle for a leaseholder across the river from home before heading down to Cochrane for church.

When I got to the Bar 75, and cell service, I had a message from the Frenchman who I day-ride for. He wanted to ship some cull cows that afternoon to the auction mart. Seeing as that job was time-sensitive, I gave him a call.

He said that when he hadn’t heard from me, he’d called another guy — but to come anyway. I arrived at his place, and by the time I was done saddling my horse, the other riders, Andrew and Amy Harms, showed up. We rode out to the pasture, brought in a few cull pairs then rode to the north end to pull some dries.

As we were approaching the cows, Andrew’s horse blew up, followed by mine — so they tell me — because the next half hour is a dead spot in my memory. (Much like most politicians.) According to Amy, who was the only one to avoid the ejection seat, my horse went sideways then started pitching. Somewhere in my departure, I’d hung up, probably by a spur, and got drug a little. Also, my mecate was caught under my horse’s tail, so I had some height to my departure.

Andy and Amy tell me I was unresponsive for a bit and then not real coherent in my speech for a while. They said that it was at this point that I kept repeating three words. The problem is, they haven’t told me what they were, hence the title.

Long story short, I was taken into the hospital and checked out. I kept assuring the medical staff that I was alright; I hadn’t cracked my egg, just scrambled the yolk. (It wasn’t my first concussion, though I usually didn’t have witnesses.) They decided that there was no new damage and let me go. I planned to head to Cochrane and preach, but everyone involved, except me, decided I shouldn’t. So with that corral in my mind closed, I had time to ponder, what three words?

I still don’t have that answer, but it made me wonder how I’d reacted. We all know a lot of words and are usually selective in what we say in our outside voice, maybe even in our thoughts. Still what’s inside us will come out.

If we look into Scripture, Jesus gives a teaching recorded in Matthew 15. Some Pharisees (religious leaders) had challenged Jesus on why his disciples didn’t follow all their rules. His reply was they, the Pharisees, didn’t follow the rules so well either. He said, “It’s not what goes into your stomach that takes you away from me; it’s what comes out of your mouth from your heart, that does the damage.” (My words.)

I may never know what three words I said, but I’ll listen for the words of someone’s heart.

Sounds like something Jesus would say. c

Bryn Thiessen is a rancher, poet, cowboy and preacher at Cowboy Trail Church in Cochrane. Bryn and his wife Bonny market grass-fattened beef from their Helmer Creek Ranch southwest of Sundre, Alta.

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The Legacy of

Black Beaut y

By CANDICE VETTER

Warning: If you have not read Black Beauty stop reading this article right now — complete plot giveaways ahead.

I

PHOTO BY STOCK ADOBE.COM/LUCKYSHOTS

was probably nine years old when I first read Black Beauty. I was a prairie girl with the first-hand experience of animal husbandry and deep sympathy for the livestock and pets on the farm (with some exceptions). A friend of mine the same age who grew up in urban Montreal also read it as a child.

The effect on her was even more traumatic than on me.

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It starts so sweetly, and I remember expecting it would continue like that. Approaching the reread for the article, I still felt that hope within myself — but as a young reader, Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse broke my heart.

The tale of one event after another that betrayed the trust of this innocent creature, in an age when horses were primary motive power for human commerce and travel, struck a chord in many hearts. Animals had feelings. By inhabiting the first person point of view of the horse, from colt in a meadow to pulling a cab in Victorian London, and through many owners cruel and kind, to his final home, readers empathized in a new way with horses, often seen as extensions of machines. Because of that empathy, attitudes in many societies towards horses changed. And not only horses. Sewell aimed at practices like fox hunts, docking dogs’ tails and ears, workhouses for the poor, and even cruel children who pulled the wings off flies.

This one iconic book — the only book written by Anna Sewell, who was born two hundred years ago this year — broke many of the literary “rules” of the time. There had been novels from an animal’s point of view before, but this was the first major one in popular English literature. Earlier “beast fables” presented animals acting like humans — much like Disney does today.

Black Beauty made readers feel an animal’s pain, an animal’s fears, and sometimes, an animal’s contentment and pride. It is clear in Sewell’s writing that she was a keen observer of horses, perhaps partly because of a mistreated injury that left her unable to walk, but able to drive. She notes, in many delightful little dialogues, how to treat both animals and humans fairly. The result was a revolution in animal welfare laws, and more importantly, in societal mores. It was no longer fashionable to be cruel. This book is credited with helping end the use of checkreins to keep horses’ heads high and necks arched, and innumerable other changes to accepted horse husbandry.

Why Sewell’s story’s resonated, however, is the power of its deeply sympathetic portraits, which

Why Sewell’s story’s resonated, however, is the power of its deeply sympathetic portraits, which immediately drew readers into the working animals’ world

immediately drew readers into the working animals’ world, including dogs and other domestic creatures. I thought maybe this time I could skim through, but there is no skimming Black Beauty. I was sucked in on page one just like before.

Sewell died only months after publication, but already her book was a runaway success. No doubt, she was gratified to see the influence of this one slim novel. It led to immediate reforms in animal welfare in Europe, the British Colonies worldwide and the United States. It has been described as a protest book and a call to action. Due to its descriptions of financial hardships of London’s taxicab owners, the license fee was reduced so that cabbies could afford to care for and not overwork their horses.

Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals already existed, but got significant boosts in support after Black Beauty’s publication and the subsequent reviews and op-ed pieces in newspapers of the time.

It has been called “the most influential anticruelty novel of all time” and has been compared to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the United States because both novels caused outrage and set off protest actions that changed society.

Contrary to the idea that moralistic books are unpopular, Barnes & Noble states Black Beauty is an alltime bestseller with over 50 million copies sold. Numerous film versions have been produced, there are translations in 50 languages, and it has never been out of print. It paved the way for a whole genre of stories like My Friend Flicka and War Horse, with dark adult themes, and National Velvet and The Incredible Journey.

Other authors have written sequels, as well as a stage play, an LP and the true sign of an icon — a parody.

In 2006 the first edition copy containing Sewell’s handwritten dedication to her mother sold at auction at Christie’s in London for £33,000 (about $70,000 at the time).

Although now always categorized as young reader’s fiction, it was not written for children, but was written, as the author said, “to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses.”

Should children read it? Yes. Everyone should. c 17

From Wyoming to the World

By TERRI MASON

Y

ou name the writing award, this ol’ cowboy has won it. So far, he has sold over 10 million books, and each novel sees him back on the New York Times Best Sellers’ list. His fans span around the world, and his engaging style has made him wealthy. And what did he do with all that money? He bought a ranch. You gotta love this guy.

Wyoming born-and-raised author C. J. Box has worked hard for his success. For the first few years of his writing career, he worked full-time and wrote when he could. “Laurie and I ran an international tourism marketing company to encourage travel to the West,” he explained. “So the early books I wrote on airplanes, I wrote in hotel rooms in Germany, you know. Now my office is in the barn loft, so it’s a little more isolated.”

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C. J. has created the almost-perfect Western hero in Joe Pickett, his star of over 20 novels. Pickett is not your typical largerthan-life, unrelatable male with demons in a troubled past. Instead, Joe is a modernday Wyoming game warden who is a lousy shot, a passable horseman, scrapes by financially and always seems to be accidentally getting a work truck stuck. However, he’s a devoted husband and father, and despite the temptations, he still does the right

PHOTO BY STOCK ADOBE.COM/DAVID

C. J. Box

thing. He is that rarest of all human beings — he is incorruptible.

All this, plus, Joe’s elusive friend who always has his back. Nate Romanowski is a falconer and Special Forces guy who moves like smoke through the trees and shoots the biggest handgun made.

Woven through each novel is a central plot that reflects today’s concerns, ranging from wind turbines to endangered species. Throw in some shady politicians, downright scary survivalists or some folks that just need killing, and you’re in for a gripping read.

How popular are C. J.'s Pickett novels?

You ride into any outfitter camp in North America, and you’ll find his books in a packbox. His novels, long dog-eared, line ranch house shelves and are in the glove box of most rodeo trucks. With his Joe Pickett series, C. J. has done for adults what J. K. Rowling did for children — he has inspired a new generation of bibliophiles, and they can’t put his books down. It’s not just women — his crowd at any book signing is 51 per cent women, 49 per cent men — unheard of in publishing.

C. J. was on his final leg of his book tour when all hell broke loose, and the world shut down.

Months later, I called him at his ranch near Cheyenne for the long-anticipated interview, and outside of not travelling, the pandemic has barely impacted his life.

IMAGE COURTESY PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE

“I live in a very rural part of the U.S., in southern Wyoming on a little ranch, and there have been very, very few cases in our county,” said C. J. from his office. “But it’s been such a blessing in a way because sometimes I think I’ve travelled too much,” he said. “I’ve got the next Joe Pickett book done six months ahead of time. And I’ve done tons of fly fishing and golf and just enjoying the summer.”

For C. J. and other authors, COVID has provided an uninterrupted writing stretch and has allowed their readers to catch up, and new ones to find his work.

“I don’t know how many emails I’ve received or comments on social media, saying ‘During this pandemic, I finally got to your books and I've read all 20 of them now,’” he said. “I get this every single day.

So I think the reader has benefitted, in a weird way.”

The appeal of the characters in the Pickett series is wide-ranging; Joe is so “real” — he could be your buddy. Nate Romanowski, Joe’s friend and ally, is the pal we’d all love to have — loyal to the bone and dangerous to our enemies. An unusual twist is that all of the characters age in real time.

While a reader can start anywhere in the series, like all good stories, try to start at the beginning with Open Season.

There’s a bit of Pickett in C. J. himself.

Like his fictional hero, C. J. and his wife, Laurie, have three daughters, which brings up my comment that, on paper, he can write

cowboycountrymagazine.com

Joe Pickett Series g Watch for an announcement regarding an upcoming television series!

Open Season (2001)

The Master Falconer (2006)

Savage Run (2002)

Force of Nature (2012)

Winterkill (2003)

Breaking Point (2013)

Trophy Hunt (2004)

Stone Cold (2014)

Dull Knife (2005)

Shots Fired (2014)

Out of Range (2005)

Endangered (2015)

In Plain Sight (2006)

Off the Grid (2016)

Free Fire (2007)

Vicious Circle (2017)

Blood Trail (2008)

The Disappeared (2018)

Below Zero (2009)

Wolf Pack (2019)

Nowhere to Run (2010)

Long Range (2020)

Cold Wind (2011)

Dark Sky (2021)

In the most recent book of the series, Joe Pickett investigates a bizarre and unprovoked grizzly attack outside of his range, plus a long-range shooter targets a local judge, and it’s up to Joe to find the answers — and the shooter

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Cassie Dewell Series *The Highway Badlands Paradise Valley The Bitterroots *Big Sky *Big Sky is an upcoming American procedural drama television series created

by David E. Kelley and based on the 2013 book *The Highway by C. J. Box. Shot in Pitt Meadows, B.C., the drama will air on ABC beginning this fall 2020–21.

So, which scenes were the hardest to write? It turns out there were two: one, the point of view of a bullet in the beginning chapter, and the other? “You’ll be surprised to find out who the bad person is,” he said.

Pickett fans would have my head if I didn’t ask; how did Joe’s bad luck with trucks begin?

“I never planned it; I didn’t say, ‘Oh, this is gonna be a thing,’” he laughs. “It just happened to turn into one. Part of that came from going out in the field with game wardens. There are only 50 game wardens in Wyoming, and every year, they have kind of a convention. They put up pictures, and they all make fun of each other for who got stuck the worst. And I realized that’s part of the job — they’re always getting stuck.”

Far from a one-trick pony, C. J. has other series he has written, and this fall you’ll be able to watch C. J.’s work dramatized on television as his book, The Highway, airs on ABC as Big Sky. For this writer, the biggest news of all is that I was told to watch for an announcement regarding an upcoming Joe Pickett television series. In this television wasteland of zombies, warlocks and the like, a real man, with a real family, and a real friend, can’t come soon enough. c For more on C. J. Box, visit CJBox.net.

PHOTO BY DAVE NELIGH PHOTOGRAPHY

like a woman thinks. (In my opinion, anyone that doesn’t believe women and men think differently is related to neither.)

“The women in my life are my toughest critics,” he said. “The manuscript first goes to Laurie. She offers comments. Then it goes to my three daughters, and then it goes to my female agent, and everybody weighs in. If there’s something that isn’t realistic or doesn’t work well for them, they let me know — and I appreciate that very much.”

His latest novel, Long Range, was released in March. It debuted at number two on the New York Times Best Sellers’ list and stayed there for five weeks.

“Long Range is more of a straight-ahead kind of police procedural murder investigation,” said C. J. “With all of the books I always choose one or two topics that are not necessarily isolated to the West but are of concern in the West. The two things I wanted to include, in addition to the investigation, was the popularity of long-range shooting; shots of 1,000 yards and more, which I see all the time where I live,” he explained. “The other subplot is a grizzly bear attack in Yellowstone Park,” he paused.

“That is one of the first ones that the investigators could honestly say was unprovoked, and that’s a scary aspect. Human/grizzly interaction has changed. Some bears come running when they hear a gunshot. It’s like a dinner bell, and it’s changed how every single hunter hunts.”

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Baxt er Black

Hearing the Master’s Voice

By TERRI MASON

B

PHOTO COURTESY COYOTE COWBOY COMPANY

axter Black is the most famous contemporary cowboy poet in the West. His wit, his gift of performance and — my God — those facial expressions made cowboy poetry the hottest ticket in town back in the ‘90s and beyond.

But while the flame of gatherings has flickered somewhat, Baxter Black has not.

While the 75-year-old retired large animal vet doesn’t hit the trail as often, his literary works do. Baxter’s weekly column is enjoyed by millions, as is his weekly storytelling recordings, most notably for our audience on columnist Hugh McLennan’s long-running radio show, Spirit of the West.

But if you’re hankering for a longer storytelling spell, Bax has once again ridden to the rescue.

The Arizona cowboy with the expressive voice has now recorded his third hilarious best-selling book. In all, the audiobooks are 23 hours of hilarity, enough to make those long miles disappear. They are available as a download from his website, BaxterBlack.com.

“The first one is Hey Cowboy, Want To Get Lucky? The second one is Hey Cowgirl,

cowboycountrymagazine.com

Need a Ride? and this latest one is called Ride Cowboy Ride, Eight Seconds Ain’t That Long,” he explained in a recent phone interview.

“All funny. And I got some good heroines —

“I rode horses, I fixed cows, and I made cowboys laugh.”

— Baxter Black in this latest, she’s a bronc rider and so are the two cowboys: one from Buffalo, South Dakota, and one from Buffalo, Alberta.”

Baxter knows of what he speaks, and he knows the country up here. “Canada is a big part of my memories,” he said. “I’ll give you some numbers. I spoke up there 160 times in little towns from Pincher Creek to Maple

Creek to Peace River. I even wrote a song that Ian Tyson recorded.”

It was his poetry that got him on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson many times, but it was his books that have catapulted the author into the stratosphere of success. To date, Baxter has sold almost two million editions.

His live performances are a riot. His gift for storytelling is such that everybody can imagine the scene, starring either Baxter — or themselves. But it’s no fluke. He’s practical, and he’s savvy.

“I write a column every week, and I’ve been doing it since July 1980. They’re timeless. That’s the way I usually write them.

There’s no politics because as soon as you take sides, you lose half your audience,” he explained.

And then there is his mastering of the psychology of making people laugh at themselves. “You’ve got to put it in such a way that every cowboy says, ‘Yeah, I know a guy like that.’”

His life has been a long, storied and successful venture, and he sums it up best when he said, “I rode horses, I fixed cows, and I made cowboys laugh.” c

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from our literary pub li s h er s: Frontenac House

Freehand Books

Borderlands

If Sylvie Had Nine Lives

Mark Vitaris The book is a photo essay on the land that straddles the forty-ninth parallel from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains to the grasslands of Saskatchewan and to the western Dakotas.

Leona Theis Do you ever look back and wonder, What if . . .? Meet Sylvie – funny, sly, sensual and flawed. Like all of us, Sylvie must make decisions that have reverberations for years to come.

Unlike the rest of us, Sylvie gets to live more than one life.

A Brush With Depth: The Art of Rick Sealock

One Madder Woman

Rick Sealock and Christina Vester Rick Sealock has been creating wild and wacky illustrations for major publications and clients for several decades.

This book is a retrospective of his life in illustration, and also an engaging how-to guide for budding illustrators.

Dede Crane In this historical fiction inspired by true events, Dede Crane vividly recreates the life of Berthe Morisot, the sole female member of the renowned group of artists known as the Impressionists in mid-19th-century Paris.

Y YC PO P: Poetic Portraits of People

Universal Disorder

Sheri-D Wilson Wilson’s Poet Laureate of Calgary legacy project, YYC POP celebrates Calgarians. Who are we? What is our identity?

What are our stories? How will we build a new future together?

Over 75 contributors plus a companion online exhibit.

Bernice Friesen Growing up on an isolated farm, Charlie is clearly different, finding solace in the infinitely fascinating world of numbers.

With magnetic prose that vibrates with energy, Universal Disorder explores the imperfect, disordered ways we love each other.

frontenachouse.com

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freehand -books.com

Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

NeWest Press

Stonehouse Publishing

Goth Girls of Banff

All the Night Gone

John O’Neill A team of goth tour guides offers excursions up mountain trails; a paroled convict thumbs his way into the life of a family driving west; and a pathologist performing a necropsy on a grizzly has an unusual encounter with both technology and humanity.

Sabrina Uswak Two brothers are left to cope after a tragic accident.

Ben reads, obsesses. Charlie struggles between silence and anger. Unable to talk about what happened, a tension builds, pushing them apart.

Horseplay: My Time Undercover on the Granville Strip

Censorettes

Norm Boucher Undercover officer Norm Boucher recounts eight months spent infiltrating Vancouver’s heroin scene in 1983, a world of paranoia and violence. From his observer’s seat, Boucher reveals the lives of addicts who spend each day looking for their next hit.

Elizabeth Bales Frank For a young woman of exceptional intelligence and courage, being sequestered from the dangers of WW2 on the idyllic island of Bermuda is maddening. She is determined to get into the fight – then the fight is brought to her.

Image Decay

Fall of Night

Mark Lisac When a cantankerous ex-government photographer seeks ownership of his prints, the powers that be are determined to prevent the release of certain sensitive photos. Set in the ’90s, this political thriller delves into questions of established power.

D.K. Stone In an attempt to leave his sordid past behind, wealthy former New Yorker Rich Evans returns to Waterton to be reunited with his fiancée, Lou, only to learn that the body of his estranged ex-girlfriend has been found in a remote lake.

newestpress.com

Taken by the Muse: On the Path to Becoming a Filmmaker

PHOTOS COURTESY

Anne Wheeler Laced with humour and revelation, Anne Wheeler’s creative non-fiction stories tell of her serendipitous journey in the seventies, when she broke with tradition and found her own way to becoming a filmmaker and raconteur.

The Weight of Blood: A Chris Ryder Thriller D.B. Carew Vancouver psychiatric social worker Chris Ryder once again finds himself at the centre of a high-profile murder case, as Marvin Goodwin, a young man who falls on the extreme end of the autism spectrum, is found covered with blood. cowboycountrymagazine.com

stonehousepublishing.ca

Humane Anna Marie Sewell However much has changed in Amiskwaciy, the problem of Indigenous women and girls being expendable hasn’t.

Nobody else is going to help the Augusts find out who killed their daughter, so Hazel takes the case.

Rough Robin Van Eck It is 2013 and Calgary’s Bow River is beginning to rise.

Two homeless men stand by the bank and contemplate the death of another friend – an accident?

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from our univer s it y an d educ ational press es: Athabasca University Press

University of Alberta Press

The Virtues of Disillusionment

Dissonant Methods: Undoing Discipline in the Humanities Classroom

aupress.ca

Steven Heighton In this essay, Steven Heighton mathematically evaluates the paradox of disillusionment and the dangers of hope. Through this meditation on language, Heighton reveals how the soulshattering experience of disillusionment is vital for liberation.

University of Calgary Press p r e s s . u c a l g a r y. c a

Long Division Gil McElroy A mind in thought breaks new ground, twists back upon itself, revisits and ruminates. The simple becomes complex, musical and strange. New units of meaning assemble and disassemble.

Contemporary experimental poetry at its finest.

Others of My Kind: Transatlantic Transgender Histories Alex Bakker, Rainer Herrn, Michael Thomas Taylor, Annette F. Timm

Discover a remarkable community of transgender people who exchanged letters and pictures through the first half of the twentieth century, creating networks of trust and affirmation and shaping the early study of sex and sexuality.

The Manhattan Project Ken Hunt The hands of humans split the atom and reshaped the world.

This is the history of nuclear discovery told in searing necropastoral poetry. Hear the hymn of the meltdown siren and turn to face the fallout of the nuclear age.

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u a p. u a l b e r ta . c a

edited by Ada S. Jaarsma and Kit Dobson The essayists in this innovative collection urge instructors to make the humanities classroom a space for resistance, offering concrete and practical meditations to ensure teaching is critical, creative, sustainable, and inclusive.

Brush Education

b r u s h e d u c at i o n . c a

First Nations Self-Government: 17 Roadblocks to SelfDetermination, and One Chief’s Thoughts on Solutions Leroy Paul Wolf Collar From serious housing shortages to a lack of opportunities for youth, former Siksika Nation Chief Leroy Paul Wolf Collar identifies issues that hinder Indigenous Nations and presents solutions to overcome them.

Rapid Response Guide to Opioid Emergencies Greg Clarkes Opioid emergencies can arise without warning, but if you’re prepared, you can save lives. This guide describes the equipment you need and the step-by-step procedures to care for a person in crisis, whether you have formal training or not.

Canadian Cowboy Country April/May 2020

and our com ic book/gr aph i c novel pub li s h er s: Renegade Arts Entertainment r e n e g a d e a r t s e n t e r ta i n m e n t. c o m

ABC Monstrosity Shea Proulx A freaky-fun book designed to thrill adults and kids alike with pages that teach and delight all at once. “The illustrations are just so beautiful . . . it’s such a fun book.” –CBC’s Anne Logan

Awkward Pause

Gothic Tales of Haunted Futures edited by S.M. Beiko With stories spanning time, galaxies, and spirits, Gothic Tales of Haunted Futures features 16 original stories, casting the indelible themes of gothic romance forward in time, to imagined futures and tomorrow’s afterlives.

A Slug Story

Ryan Harby A love letter to odd humour, Awkward Pause is a mix of joy and sorrow, both soft and sharp. Includes over 50 comics, ranging in topic from mental health to time travel, murder, and butts.

Absurd in ways that will warm even the coldest of hearts.

Mandi Kujawa and Hana Kujawa illustrated by Claude St. Aubin Marcus is an enthusiastic boy, but ridiculed at school, he feels that his best efforts are second-rate. Marcus suffers a serious brain injury. In hospital, with fellow patient Emily’s help, Marcus embraces the reality of who he is. Autobiographical.

Bogart Creek: Volume 2

VMT

Derek Evernden Collecting more of Bogart Creek, Derek Evernden’s laugh out loud funny, single-panel comics of absurd and dark humour.

Similar in style to The Far Side, Bogart Creek is a perfect book to raise a smile in troubled times.

William Simpson VMT brings together three diverse vampiric existences in an encounter with a darker, more malevolent evil, insistent on shredding the veil of life and indulging in a brutal orgy of carnal sacrifice.

Find out how to borrow an Alberta eBook:

readalbertaebooks.ca

cowboycountrymagazine.com

25

THE WESTERNERS

Naomi Bristow Canada’s Singing Cowgirl

By BILL BORGWARDT

Photos: Photo by Bill Borgwardt Caption: In 2010 Naomi made a guest appearance on the youth stage at Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alta. The next year, promoter Larry Warner made her the first-ever youth artist to perform on every stage at the event — including the Sunday morning Gospel show, plus doing a short set on the main stage in front of 20,000 people, right before one of the evening headliners, Charlie Daniels.

Photo by Bill Borgwardt Caption: After performing at the 2015 Country At The Creek festival in Big River, Sask., there was so much demand that they immediately booked her to return in 2016 Naomi Bristow

Photo by Bill Borgwardt performing at 2015 Country at Caption: the Creek Music In 2019 Naomi did two Canadian tours with fiddle champion Scott Woods and his band, playing 90 packed local community cenFestival in Ness tres and churches from British Columbia to Quebec.

Creek, Sask.

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N

ot all the Canadian cowgirls come from the West, especially when it comes to ones who can yodel.

Naomi Bristow grew up on a small farm near Beeton, Ont., less than an hour northwest of Toronto. From as far back as she can remember, Naomi has had two loves — horses and singing. Since her dad, Eugene Bristow, was a bull rider, her whole family, including her mother, Lynda, and her three siblings, all followed the local rodeo circuit.

Naomi may not have made her mark in rodeo as a competitor (although she did try mutton bustin’), but she certainly became well known as an entertainer. By the time she was six, Naomi was already singing traditional cowboy and western songs at all the local rodeos, fairs, or anywhere else that would have her.

One day while watching television, Naomi saw a young girl from Tennessee, not much older than herself, who was a selftaught yodeler. Right then she decided this was what she wanted to do. Her grandfather ordered her an instruction book and cassette tape on how to yodel, and by age eight, Naomi had mastered the skill.

It wasn’t long before Naomi recorded

Naomi has travelled and performed all across Canada and the U.S. for the past 15 years. She has opened for numerous Nashville legends, including Moe Bandy, Marty Stewart, Gene Watson, Rhonda Vincent, David Frizzell and many others.

Her enthusiasm and vivacious personality, along with her beautiful vocals, quickly capture the hearts of all who see her.

In 2019 she did two cross-Canada tours with the Scott Woods Band, performing in nearly 90 different venues in 95 days. For the rest of the year, her personal show schedule was packed. In addition to live shows, Naomi has done multiple TV appearances, including three seasons of the Shotgun Red Variety Show and regular appearances for the past six years on the Midwest Country show, both on the RFD-TV network in the U.S. Her 2019 video version of the gospel song “Hallelujah”, released on Facebook, has garnered over 14 million views.

The awards have been numerous, including the 2016 Traditional Country Rising Star at the Josie Awards in Nashville, and twice receiving the Youth Yodeler of the Year award from the Western Music

can sit in isolation watching the show through their bedroom windows.

Earlier in the year, she released her tenth album, You’re Lookin’ At Country, which for the first time includes a song that she has written herself, “I Tried To Warn You.” To top it all off, Naomi was kept busy planning for August 22, when she tied the knot with her local cowboy sweetheart, Nick Wilcox.

Due to COVID restrictions, they had to keep it a small event with only family attending, but the couple pulled off a beautiful country-themed wedding. They will now have time to settle into their new married life on the Wilcox farm, but don’t count her out.

The requests for appearances keep pouring in and as soon as things return to normal, you can bet she’ll be hitting the tour trail once again. c For further information or to hear her music, visit NaomiBristow.com.

PHOTOS BY BILL BORGWARDT

Her grandfather ordered her an instruction book and cassette tape on how to yodel, and by age eight, Naomi had mastered the skill. her first album, Cowboy Sweetheart, followed by The Yodelin’ Cowgirl, and then Ridin’ High in 2009, which was declared the Best Traditional Yodel Album of the Year by the National Traditional Country Music Association in the U.S. Naomi’s strong spiritual upbringing led her to record a gospel album, Blessed Trail, in 2012. Joining her on this album was none other than Grand Ole Opry member, Vince Gill. Her recorded library now contains ten traditional country, gospel, and Christmas albums — many of them recorded in Nashville and featuring duets with other Opry legends like Jim Ed Brown, Richard Sterban of the Oak Ridge Boys, and Bill Anderson. She also released a DVD that featured many of her performances. cowboycountrymagazine.com

Association in the U.S. The B.C. Cowboy Heritage Society also presented her with their Rising Star Award, and in Texas she was declared the Female Vocalist of the Year at the Valley Star Awards.

Despite the uncertainties that 2020 has brought, for Naomi it will be a year of milestones. Although she had close to 100 shows booked that were all put on hold, the now-22-yearold has kept busy with “window shows,” entertaining outside local seniors’ homes, where the residents

Newlyweds Naomi Bristow and Nick Wilcox

27

Lest We Forget

Horses Heal Veterans + Equine Assisted Therapy

By TIM LASIUTA

N

estled in the Banana Hills surrounding Torrington, Alta., Steve Critchley and wife Patricia run an unlikely business.

Critchley, a retired veteran, C.Med, CD (Warrant Officer, Retired) operates Can Praxis, a nationally recognized nonprofit Equine Assisted Therapy provider for veteran and First Responder communities at their Torrington ranch, aptly named Shabraque, the name of the saddle cloth formerly used by European light cavalry.

“We started Can Praxis in 2009,” said Critchley. “I had served with the Lord Strathcona’s Horse Armour Corp in Calgary prior to my retirement and had been tagged as a mediator. They invested time and money into my training to create and run programs to help our members cope with Operational Stress Injuries (OSI).”

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Upon his retirement, he realized that his work with veterans and First Responders was just beginning.

“We bought our land in Torrington, and started to breed Canadian [horses], partly for pleasure but also for use in Can Praxis programs,” said Critchley. “I discovered that Equine Assisted Therapy was effective in helping clients deal with OSI and PTSD.” Critchley added, "One reason that horses work so well with PTSD sufferers was that the animals react to the emotional states of the individuals.” He paused. “If you approach a horse in an agitated state, the animal will pick up on that and reflect it back. Horses teach their human counterparts [that] their mental state determines the outcome of any interaction and that

we do not realize what we bring to any relationship. Likewise, PTSD affects every individual in the family, and if a horse reacts to a sufferer by retreating, what is the reaction of their children or spouse going to be? If the patient is going to trust the horse, the horse must trust the patient.”

Studies have shown that the human brain produces dopamine when working with horses. In those moments, Critchley commented, is when the window between the primitive and the higher-level brain is open, and valuable skills and attitudes can be learned to reap future benefits.

Can Praxis runs a three-phase, three-day program, which includes groundwork at Horse In Hand Ranch near Blackfalds for riders of all skill levels with the animals, learning to earn the horse's trust and the trust of their partner in the exercises. The second step is held at Red Lodge Guest Ranch near Bowden, where a fully qualified Trauma Psychologist works with both horse and human during riding lessons. Phase Three is a three-day trail ride with Brewster Adventures for both partners in the mountain meadows around Banff with the real learning and healing taking place in the evenings around campfires.

“We have had more than 1,000 people come through the program since we started seven years ago,” said Critchley. “All of them

Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

PHOTOS BY RAYNE OR SHINE PHOTOGRAPHY/SALLY JEAN DONOGHUE

Veterans experiencing their first ride

have gone through the program for no charge.

We feel that their injuries occurred during their work and tours of duty so they should not be charged. We have brought people from all across Canada on our dime and put them up in hotels so they can heal. We even flew a grandma across the country to babysit so a couple could attend our program. They need to heal, and we need to be there to help them. Our program is only part of the solution.”

Participants in the program are often surprised by the results they see through Equine Assisted Therapy. Retired Lieutenant-Colonel Rob Martin wrote: “Can Praxis means everything to me. Upon initial contact mid-September 2015, Steve talked me through a very dark, life-threatening situation. My daughter and my attendance at Can Praxis in October brought me hope and discovery, and an ‘exquisite understanding of pressure and release’ in my relationships. I live the communication and conflict resolution/ self-mediation lessons learned every single day and will continue to refine my understanding of them for the rest of my life. For these things and more I am grateful and give thanks.”

Can Praxis is funded through corporate and private donations with Red Friday from Ontario recently coming on board to help support the charity through sales of their Canadian-made hand sanitizers.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Critchley and his wife are prepping for their first forays into new sessions.

“We plan on opening up to include healthcare workers as they are also under fire in this recent time,” he said. “There is at least one suicidal person in each group, and we want to be there so they can see a better way.”

Another participant, Russ, commented; “Besides getting sober seven years ago and restoring relationships with each of my two sons, this is without a doubt the most powerful and beneficial thing I’ve ever done for myself. It’s also rejuvenated my relationship with Patricia [wife] and is already paying great dividends.”

As the sun sets on Shabraque, Critchley reflects on why they named the program Can Praxis.

“Can for Canadian, Can Do attitude — think Vimy Ridge — and Praxis, from the Latin to take theory into practice. Can Do,” he said nodding.

“Walk the talk, we all need to walk the talk so we all can get better.”

For more information on the programs, visit their website CanPraxis.com or their Facebook page, Can Praxis. c cowboycountrymagazine.com

TOP: Getting to know each other CENTER: Veteran Christine relearns what it's like to live in the moment BOTTOM: Learning the art of tacking up

29

TRAILBLAZERS

PEOPLE WHO SHAPED THE WEST

John J. Bowlen From P.E.I. to Buckingham Palace

By TOM REARDON

ohn James Bowlen quite possibly took the most diverse route ever travelled from P. E. I. to Buckingham Palace. Visiting the Queen in her house was not a lifelong ambition, but here’s how it came to be.

He was born on the family farm near Cardigan, P.E.I., in 1876. At 15 he went to Boston to build his own life. Wages were a dollar a day. He went through several years in that pay bracket then landed a job with the West End Street Railway as a conductor. At $2.25 per day, it was the best a young man with little education could hope for. By 1900, Bowlen had a wife and $1,000, so he returned home to buy a farm.

His farm was a success, but he wanted to see the West, so he sold out and took a train to Winnipeg.

In Manitoba, he secured a job managing a farm for a fellow whose sick wife needed him back East. When his contract was done, he returned home and began trading livestock, but the West still called.

He made the move in March of 1906. The country around Humboldt, Sask., had been opened for homesteading three years prior. He purchased a 160-acre farm near Muenster. Using workhorses, he got his land worked much quicker than his neighbours who were using oxen. At the end of July, a killer frost levelled his crop.

Then came the infamous winter of 1906–07. Much of the livestock in Western Canada perished, including Bowlen’s workhorses. He went to Manitoba and purchased 20 horses.

30

Bowlen showing his registered brands, worked into the linoleum of his Edmonton home

They sold in one day at Humboldt. He made two more trips that winter, paid off the bank and turned a $1,500 profit.

But, for the second year in a row, his crop froze.

He sold his farm and took a homestead and soon found a source of horses at High River. He made two trips West — both profitable.

In 1909 while in Fort Macleod waiting for a train, a man trailed 150 horses into town. Bowlen promptly bought the horses. It was mid-January. He rented a section of land with a haystack on it near High River, hired a man to tend herd and resumed his trip home.

That spring, he decided to let his horses eat their way to Muenster. In early May he and his crew departed — a month later they were at Provost. The new settlers needed horses and Bowlen sold them in many new towns along the railway: Macklin, Kerrobert, Unity, and past Saskatoon to Muenster. For six seasons he made that trek.

Needing a horse ranch and staging area for his annual trip, he bought a place near Rosebud and hired a man to run it. By 1917 the rangeland around his ranch was being homesteaded, so he sold out and bought the Q Ranch, consisting of 100,000 acres and 1,700 horses. Bowlen hired ranch hands and bought a house in Calgary for his family.

Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

PHOTOS CAPTURED FROM J.J. BOWLEN THE VICE REGAL COWBOY

J

///

He spent time on his ranch but was often in Calgary. The winter of 1919–20 changed all that.

A chinook melted the surface of two feet of snow that crusted over. Sixty miles to the west, Jim Wallace had grassland that the chinook had bared. He allowed Bowlen and crew to trail his horses in for the rest of the winter. That spring Bowlen dealt all his horses, restocked with cattle, then sold out to the cattleman that had bailed him out.

At the 1920 Calgary Stampede, he bought a ranch at Alderson, and soon he had 3,000 horses. Every spring he went peddling horses. Otherwise, he was a ‘hands-on’ rancher and even imported stallions from Texas. His Alderson Ranch grew to be Canada’s biggest horse ranch.

Bowlen saw the tractor coming, sold his horses and stocked the place with sheep in 1929.

In 1931 he was elected to the Alberta Legislative Assembly, and he held that seat until 1944. He sold the sheep ranch and farms at Claresholm, Pincher Creek and Brooks. After a winter in Florida, he bought land at Cochrane and Carseland.

John James Bowlen was appointed LieutenantGovernor of Alberta in January 1950. In 1956, the old horse trader was invited to Buckingham Palace for a private audience with the Queen. He was the first Lieutenant-Governor from a Dominion to receive such an invitation.

J.J. Bowlen was Alberta’s longest-serving viceroy, and he died in office December 16, 1959.

He is buried in St. Joachim’s Cemetery in Edmonton. c

J. J. Bowlen and one of his stallions; ca. 1909. By 1969, this cowboy already had one of two buildings named in his honour.

At $2.25 per day, it was the best a young man with little education could hope for.

By 1900, Bowlen had a wife and $1,000, so he returned home to buy a farm.

PHOTO CAPTURED FROM J.J. BOWLEN THE VICE REGAL COWBOY

*I sincerely apologize for the poor images; the Glenbow Museum Archives was still closed at press time. For more on J. J. Bowlen, read Vice Regal Cowboy: Alberta's J. J. Bowlen by Tony Cashman. —Editor.

Bowlen selling horses to settlers at Luseland, Sask; 1911

cowboycountrymagazine.com

31

COWBOY WAY

PART 2 OF TWO

ADVANCED CATTLE HANDLING

Driven

by Impulse

By DYLAN BIGGS

I

PHOTOS COURTESY TK RANCH

n the previous article, I discussed a few powerful impulses. Becoming aware of every impulse and motivation for when, where, and how I pressure cattle has allowed me more control of myself and as a result, much better control of my livestock.

Working single animals is one of the more challenging jobs. Many people have such difficulty with this that they won’t attempt it. They will leave their animal in the neighbour’s herd all summer until the cattle come into corrals and can be sorted. Only then is their animal loaded on a trailer for home.

A common scenario is driving a single animal down a fence-line toward a corner gate. I am sure everyone has experienced getting right to the gate — and the animal veers off the fence and away from the gate. For this scenario, I am going to assume that the steer veered off course on his own and not because as we got closer to the gate, we started worrying about getting the animal through and rode in tighter, thus causing it to veer. This is something that regularly happens, and we typically blame the animal.

So let’s say the fence is on the left as we are facing the gate. In that case, when the steer veers away from the fence, it will be going to the right. Our instinctive response is to try and cut the steer off by angling up toward the steer’s head in an attempt to cut it off and turn it back towards the gate.

If the animal is calm and quiet, cutting it off won’t be a problem. But if the animal is even slightly nervous, pinching in on it will get more speed, which almost invariably makes the situation more challenging.

The reaction to a hard stop is almost always more speed back the other way

32

Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

Because our position/angle of approach is pinching into the shoulder or neck, we almost always speed the animal up. There are typically four outcomes: 1. The most common is that, as we pinch in, we are behind the head enough so that, as the animal speeds up, it hooks around in front of us and is on the run.

2. With this speed we have generated, we jam the animal into the fence, and it goes through or over the fence.

3. We get long enough on the animal, and it slams on the brakes and immediately ducks in behind us.

4. We get a hard stop and turn back to the left, but the speed pushes the animal so hard back to the left that we are now going back in a full-speed race to the left, which demands another full speed stop and turn back towards the gate. Chances are slim this is going to end well once this race has begun.

A slow stop

cowboycountrymagazine.com

It is just like over-steering a vehicle while stepping on the gas; we can easily lose control. Our impulse is to cut the animal off.

Our impulsive pinching-in approach, which adds more pressure and speed is an offensive approach. Offensive positioning and pressuring seems to be everyone’s instinctive impulse and certainly used to be mine. At this point, we need to regain control.

The first thing we need to do is slow things down. In my experience, a slow, controlled stop is what will allow us to then ask for a controlled turn. Defensive positioning is a yielding/blocking strategy. There is a fine line between pushing and blocking.

Effective blocking is asking for a stop by just being in the way just enough that the animal stops, calmly and slowly. A lot of the time, it means giving ground — something that to me used to feel like I was giving up control, but instead, it allows one to regain control of speed and then direction.

A good stock dog has blocking figured out. The dog gives ground until it finds the spot where the animal stops. An overly aggressive dog adds more speed, starts a race and ends up chasing the animal away.

Without the ability to read the effect your position has on the animal’s movement, it will be virtually impossible to

execute an effective block. In general, before redirecting an animal that has sped up and is going the wrong direction, you first want to stop the animal in a calm manner. Once the animal is stopped, you then want to switch to offensive pressuring to initiate a turn and ask for movement in the right direction. Effective blocking requires a good feel for the animal’s flight zone. The line between offensive and defensive can be very subtle, but the animal will always tell you the effectiveness of what you are asking.

Ideally, with our impulse to cut the animal off when it veers under control, we can then focus on going straight out to the left to redirect the animal towards the gate without adding pinching pressure and starting a race. We can keep things under control.

Often, when we go straight out off the hip, the animal will straighten out. If it doesn’t, we are in a good position to perform an effective block and get a slow, calm stop, so we can then pressure into the side of the head to ask for a turn back towards the gate and walk the animal calmly through the gate and carry on without a fight. c

A controlled turn away after a slow stop

33

WHAT WORKS FOR US

Weaning Time!

T

By TERRI MASON

he fall of the year is payday, harvest and the future all rolled into one season. It can be noisy, or stressful, and it can also be a fabulous time of working cattle with great crews, but most of all, it’s seeing a year’s worth of hard work on the hoof. It’s also when the future of the outfit is decided by the quality of the replacement heifers.

There is a lot of riding this time of year, and a lot riding ON this time of year.

From the high ranges of the wild Cariboo of British Columbia, these are their stories.

BUILDING THE HERD KEELY DURRELL

“

Well, first off, we do everything horseback. We love it. We run our cows on Toosey Indian Band land that we lease, and it’s really nice country. It is mainly open dry grassland, with a big stand of fir.

We do all of our cattle checking and handling on horseback. We’re weaning the calves generally at the end of October to the beginning of November.

Generally, it’s myself and Jeff, and sometimes my sister and brotherin-law doing the fall work together. We gather the pairs, usually on the day we wean. There’s a pretty good set up of corrals here, so we bring them in and then we sort off our cows.

Our calves are sold beforehand, before they’re even weaned.

We often sell them through B.C. Livestock. After they’re sorted off,

From left: Keely Durrell, Isabella, Jeff Taylor and Jack

they get loaded and trucked to their new location. After we ship the calves, we turn our cows back out again until we take them to our winter meadow, where we can usually graze until the end of December.

We’re building up our herd, so we keep back about 30 replacement heifers. We’re trying to expand our mother cow herd. We also ran a bunch of grass yearlings on our home place up here this year.

I really like working cattle, and I wish we had more cows, and we’re working on it. I really enjoy cow work; that’s probably one of my favourite times. I like getting a chance to ride and do some good work out on my horse. Jeff and I both really enjoy that. We’ve got two kids, so it seems we’re juggling all the time. You're going all summer and getting prepared for winter.

But before the snow hits, we have this great time working together — and that’s what works for us.”

Flying O Ranch Owners: Jeff Taylor & Keely Durrell; children Isabella (2.5 years), Jack (17 months) Nearest town: Quesnel and/or Williams Lake, B.C. Established: 2010 Elevation: 474–586 m (1598–1993 feet) Average Precipitation: 394 mm (15.5 inches)

Cattle breed: Commercial/Black Angus Herd size: 150 and building Brand/Location: Flying O, RRib

34

Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

PHOTO COURTESY FLYING O RANCH

Size: 700 deeded; 5,800 Toosey Indian Band; 1,600 leased; 1,000 Crown

The Seelhof family, from left: Chad, Ricky, Renee, Cooper and Riata

Woodjam Ranch Owners: Chad and Ricky Seelhof; children Riata (15), Cooper (13) Renee (10) Nearest Town: Horsefly, B.C. Established: 1899

WEANING WITH SALT RICKY SEELHOF

“

PHOTO COURTESY WOODJAM RANCH

Our cows run on about 80,000 acres of Crown, and they are there most of the summer. By the end of September, it’s time they come home, so we start opening the gates.

We manage the cattle with salt stations on the range because you can’t do it any other way. It’s rugged, tough country. We do some riding on the range, but we can’t cover it all because it’s big country with lots of timber.

We start pulling salt around the beginning to the middle of September, so the cows get a bit salt-hungry. Then we salt when we open the gates in specific areas on our deeded land. Then the cows come home.

At home, they graze most of the fall, and we usually sell our calves online through B.C. Livestock and The Electronic Auction Market (TEAM). We sell them about the middle of October, and we usually have delivery around the beginning of November.

Whoever buys them sends their trucks here to the ranch. We have a scale, and we wean them off of their moms that morning, they’re weighed, loaded on trucks and gone to Alberta, or wherever.

We keep about 80 to 100 replacements heifers, and we will keep the tail end, the late calves; that’s all we keep here. So we ship two loads of steers, one load of heifers and then we take one load to Williams Lake — the ones that don’t make the loads online. cowboycountrymagazine.com

Approximate Elevation: 787 m (2,582 feet) Annual Precipitation: 560 mm (22 inches) not including the melt Land: 2,122 deeded; 80,000 Crown acres Cattle: 500 cows/Commercial/Black Angus Brand: Lazy S left over half diamond (LH)

This year, we had a long spring, which is not that normal here in the Cariboo, and it was cold. So we fed and we actually had to buy hay. And then when COVID hit, the killing plants shut down for a bit, so we were feeding open cows. We were told, ‘Don’t bother bringing them to town.’ Then, and this wasn’t a big deal, but we hamburgered five cows and sold the meat privately. It was amazing — it sold so fast. I’m not sure if we’ll keep that up. It’s a lot of extra work even just talking to people and answering messages, and then there are lots of people wondering how the meat is packaged — is it wrapped in paper or plastic? That kind of thing. So it’s inconvenient because we have lots of other things going on. Another effect of COVID is that the ranch rodeos we usually participated in were all cancelled.

This year has been a challenging one with Mother Nature and COVID, but in challenging times there is always beauty. It’s been a great time having our kids home from school to help out, tons of grass, healthy cattle and lots of solitude. It is truly the simple things in life that matter the most — and that’s what works for us.” c

35

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Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

Pro Rodeo

CANADA

INSIDER

WILLY PHOTO BY MIKE COPEMAN

Easily one of the most decorated steer wrestling horses in professional rodeo is Cassidy’s Willy. Now, the big bay is being inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. Lee Graves of Calgary, Alta., rode Willy to his 2005 World Steer Wrestling title.

PRCA Photo by Mike Copeman

RODEOCANADA.COM cowboycountrymagazine.com

CANADIAN COWBOY COUNTRY OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020 37

Pro Rodeo Canada Insider

Sponsorship Package As 2020 rolls along and considering the challenges Canadian Pro Rodeo has faced this year, we are looking ahead to next spring and, hopefully, a full rodeo season.

CPRA staff, though working in a reduced capacity, continue to be available to members, committees, partners, prospective sponsors and the public as needed. Please watch our website and social media accounts for updates and information as we move further into the fall.

One area staff are focusing on is CPRA sponsorship — both existing partnerships and new possibilities.

The Association just completed its 2021 Sponsorship Package. Check out the options at rodeocanada.com.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the CPRA as we would be happy to sit down with you and tailor a sponsorship package to your organization.

As well, in addition to welcoming back our long-standing and muchvalued Pro Rodeo Canada events, we are excited to see some new rodeos working to come onboard. Thank you to all of our member committees and

38

the host of volunteers and sponsors who help with these events.

Conversations with rodeo associations at all levels are moving onward and upward as several groups are working to find ways and areas we can work together to promote, preserve and grow our sport. All ideas and interest are welcome.

Thank you to the organizers of the Canadian Cowboy Classic Golf Tournament. Held once again at the Valley Ridge Golf Club in Calgary, entrants enjoyed a great day of camaraderie, food, prizes and golf, with proceeds going to a cause that is near and dear to all of us — the Pro Rodeo Canada Sport Medicine Team. Thank you for your support.

While CPRA members have not had the option to rodeo in Canada this year due to COVID-19, a number of competitors are enjoying success south of the border in their efforts to secure a 2020 WNFR spot.

At press time, among the athletes solidly in the top 15 are Bareback Champions Orin Larsen and Richmond Champion; two-time World and Canadian Saddle Bronc titlest Zeke Thurston; two-time CFR qualifier Dawson Hay; six-time World Bull Riding Champ (and 2019 CFR qualifier) Sage Kimzey; Canadian Champion Team Roping Headers Levi Simpson, Kolton Schmidt and Matt Sherwood; Champion Heelers Paul Eaves and Hunter Koch; and four-time Canadian Barrel Racing Champ Lisa Lockhart. NFRbound tie-down ropers who have enjoyed Canadian success include

Tuf Cooper, Haven Meged, Shane Hanchey and Timber Moore. Check RodeoCanada.com for a final 2020 WNFR roster.

Thank you to the members who have supported us through these challenges, to the directors who have come to meetings on their own dime and to the staff who have taken reductions in pay to keep us alive.

We wish everyone a safe and happy fall season. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me, or a member of the CPRA Board of Directors and/or management.

See you down the trail!

Terry Cooke, President, CPRA

 For up-to-date information about the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association, check out our website at RodeoCanada.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @prorodeocanada. We’re also on YouTube under RodeoCanada.

Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

C.P.R.A.

Ben Robinson pulling his slack and stepping off his rope horse before the loop tightened at the 2019 Hand Hills Stampede.

The rodeo, which would have been celebrating its 104th anniversary, was postponed until 2021 due to the pandemic.

ROAD TO THE CFR

LUCAS, ROBINSON & HAY FAR-FLUNG RODEOS

By TIM ELLIS

T

HE ROAD TO THE CFR IN 2020 WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PAVED WITH YOUNG, EMERGING TALENT

HUNGRY TO SHOW OFF THE BRIGHT FUTURE OF RODEO IN CANADA.

PHOTO BY BILLIE-JEAN DUFF

INSTEAD, THE CANCELLATION OF THE CPRA SEASON DUE TO COVID RESTRICTIONS HAD THOSE TALENTED COWBOYS FOLLOWING A MUCH DIFFERENT PATH SOUTH OF THE 49TH PARALLEL. cowboycountrymagazine.com

“As long as they kept having rodeos down there, it was an opportunity to get the truck payments covered,” offers five-time CFR qualifier, Kyle Lucas, who was among several Canadians to take advantage of being able to compete in the U.S. “I sure hope we can come back strong in Canada next year and get some good rodeos going again in the spring.”

By mid-August, the 26-year-old Lucas had shot up to 30th in the PRCA world tiedown roping standings. While that wasn’t an unfamiliar position for the Carstairs, Alta., cowboy, it was perhaps a better accomplishment given event entries were nearly double from past years.

“For the most part, it was just like anything else,” suggests the 2018 Canadian Pro Rodeo reserve champion. “You dang sure had to draw a good calf, make a good run and stay out of your head and your own way. That’s been my problem, beating myself instead of just doing what I practise day in and day out.”

With Lucas in the truck was Ben Robinson.

“I was planning on competing in Canada obviously,” says Robinson, whose best attempt at qualifying for the Canadian Finals Rodeo was in 2017 when he finished 14th in the CPRA tie-down roping

standings. “For sure, it was disappointing. I would have liked to have been around home more.”

What wasn’t disappointing was the 25-year-old’s performance south of the border. He enjoyed his biggest weekend ever on the PRCA trail with a $6,500 hit in early August while jumping inside the top 45 of the world standings.

“I just tried to keep my head up and kept running at them.”

A trio of young saddle bronc riders, all coming off standout performances at their first CFR appearances last fall, also headed south.

“It was a crazy year,” chuckles Logan Hay, whose highlight of the season was an 88.5point ride on C5 Rodeo’s #80 Rockstar to win a rodeo in Baker, Mont. “There was lots of driving because there were only a handful of rodeos each weekend.”

The 23-year-old Hay was joined in the truck by 20-year-old Ben Andersen and 24-year-old Kole Ashbacher.

“There would be a hundred entries, but most committees only took 30 or 40 guys,” begins the Wildwood, Alta., cowboy. “So, you’d have the top 30 bronc riders in the world at a $1,500-added rodeo. You had to be 84 or 85 just to place when most times an 80 would win that rodeo.”

“I had my truck and camper, and we went wherever. We went to lots of good rodeos we’d never gone to before and might not get the chance to go to again, so it was cool that way.” c

39

Pro Rodeo Canada Insider

ANNOUNCING THE 2020

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES Due to COVID, the awards will be presented to these worthy inductees in 2021.

Contestant

Todd Boggust

Contestant

Contestant

Raised in Fort St John, B.C., Robert Bowers personified both toughness and hard luck in his rodeo career.

This amazing cowboy first made his mark on the rodeo scene in 1993 when he won the CPRA Permit Award. Then based in Brooks, Alta., Robert earned eight rough stock CFR qualifications: four in bull riding (1997, 1998, 2002, 2004) and four in bareback riding (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003). He earned three bull riding NFR qualifications (1997–1999) and two PBR World Finals qualifications. In 2004, he won $85,677 bull riding at the Calgary Stampede.

This dual-event cowboy is also famous for riding and winning with either hand and is one of the few men in history to qualify for the PBR World Finals, Wrangler NFR and the CFR. Robert won his Canadian Bull Riding title in 1997 and later was the 2002 High Point Champion.

Known as a world-class competitor, this decorated individual is a humble cowboy who has inspired many young rough stock riders. We’re privileged to induct Robert as one of our 2020 Class into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.

Guy Shapka of Alix, Alta., has a list of accomplishments as long as a bronc rein. His rodeo career in saddle bronc riding spanned from 1974 through 2002, with 17 CFR qualifications and three NFR qualifications.

He was crowned the Canadian Novice Saddle Bronc Champion in 1982, and National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Saddle Bronc Champion in 1983. He was named the Rookie of the Year in both the CPRA and PRCA in 1984.

Guy went on to win the Canadian Saddle Bronc Championship in 1987. In both the 1988 and 2002 Olympics he represented Canada. Guy was the season leader in 1995 and the CFR Saddle Bronc Average winner in 2000. Named CPRA Cowboy of the Year in 2002, Guy retired after his final ride at the CFR that year.

For these accomplishments and so many more, Guy has earned his seat in the Hall of Fame.

Robert Bowers

Guy Shapka

His 12 CFR steer wrestling (SW) qualifications and five NFR SW qualifications speak for themselves where Todd is concerned. The cowboy from Paynton, Sask., was an outstanding steer wrestler and an ambassador of the event, and was liked by absolutely everyone.

Todd won the Canadian Steer Wrestling Championship title in 1995 and the $50,000 at Calgary Stampede in 1996.

Sadly, we lost Todd in August 2001 to cancer.

He was awarded the CPRA Douglas Lake Ranch “Cowboy of the Year” in 2001 posthumously.

Many of today’s steer wrestling competitors credit Todd with much of their success, stating, “He was there influencing me when I got started.”

Todd was a rancher and a cowboy at heart. For these reasons and more, we recognize and welcome Todd Boggust to his rightful seat in the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.

40

Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

ILLUSTRATIONS: STOCK ADOBE/NOBELART

(1964–2001)

C.P.R.A.

Builder

Dallas Mackie A name synonymous with the Cranbrook Pro Rodeo, in 1987, Dallas Mackie was a founding member of the Cranbrook Pro Rodeo committee.

For many years, that rodeo board was one of the few all-women committees in the world. Dallas’ love of horses and rodeo comes straight down the line from her father, Fred Bradford. Today, over 34 years of commitment and dedication as a volunteer is something few can list as an accomplishment in the rodeo arena. In 2005, Dallas was voted as the CPRA Committee Person of the Year and is worthy of the Builder accolade for many reasons.

This well-regarded horsewoman and her late husband, Ron, spent a lifetime breeding Quarter Horses and Paints.

We proudly honour Dallas Mackie as one of our 2020 class of inductees into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.

Animal

RTR Little Willy a.k.a. “Willy” Born in 1986, this phenomenal, recordsetting Quarter Horse goes back to the Thoroughbred racehorse, War Admiral on his dam’s side. (War Admiral was the fourth winner of the American Triple Crown and Horse of the Year in 1937, and the rival of Seabiscuit in the ‘Match Race of the Century’ in 1938.)

Owned by Greg Cassidy, Willy has earned well over $3 million and carried four cowboys to World Steer Wrestling titles in Las Vegas: Rope Myers (2001), Lee Graves (2005), Jason Miller (2007) and Luke Branquinho (2008). He also earned six Canadian Steer Wrestling titles for competitors Greg Cassidy (2000), Curtis Cassidy (2006), Lee Graves (2003, 2005) Cody Cassidy (2008, 2009), plus a 2002 Olympic Gold medal with Myers..

Bleed: 7.625” In 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 and Trim: 7.125” 2009 he was voted as the CPRA Steer 6.325” Wrestling HorseSafety: of the Year. In 2004, he

earned second place in the voting for the AQHA-PRCA Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year, and in 2008 he was voted the AQHA-PRCA Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year. Willy was retired following the 2010 Wrangler NFR. Quite possibly one of the most decorated animals in Canadian rodeo history, Willy is a very worthy addition to the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. c

WARNING: This proof is delivered on the condition that it be carefully inspected before going any further in the production cycle. Optic Nerve’s responsibility is limited to making corrections and/or replacing defective files. This file may not be reduced, enlarged or changed in any manner without obtaining written approval from The Publicis Group of Companies. [REF: PB-D] NOTE: For emergency inquiries outside our normal business hours, including statutory holidays (M-F, 9:00am-8:00pm EST), please direct emails to optic911@optnerve.com

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41 9/8/20 5:42 PM

Pro Rodeo Canada Insider WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

RODEO PHOTOGRAPHERS ONE SHOT AT A TIME

By TIM ELLIS

42

How To Go Pro New shooters are strongly encouraged to hone their craft by shooting at amateur rodeos for a full season.

The new shooter contacts the CPRA and is vetted by a senior carded photographer.

They must present their portfolio of unedited photos to the senior CPRA photographer. The new shooter must pass an arena review to prove they can safely operate in an arena.

The CPRA makes the final decision on arena access granted to photographers.

Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020

C.P.R.A.

OPPOSITE PAGE:

Billie-Jean Duff RoughstockStudio.ca

A spectacular action photo of Quentin Taylor and his picture-perfect turned-out boot on Calgary’s A-34 Armitta Rocket in the novice bronc riding at 2019 Innisfail Rodeo

V

ERSATILITY, PASSION, AGILITY, PERSEVERANCE, INGENUITY AND TIMING — THESE ARE

ALL NECESSARY ATTRIBUTES FOR A RODEO PHOTOGRAPHER. IT WAS THOSE ELEMENTS THAT HELPED MIKE COPEMAN REACH THE

PINNACLE OF SUCCESS DURING HIS 28-YEAR CAREER. “I was bouncing off the walls,” remembers Copeman of a call from Clay Gaillard of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1998. “He said, ‘It’s just preliminary, but would you be interested in serving as our arena photographer at the NFR?’” “Two weeks later, he called again to say I had the job. He said, ‘We’re thinking we can pay you this much or that much.’ I said, ‘I’ll take that much, being the much higher number,’ and that was our negotiation.’”

It was the start of a 17-year run of shooting at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Add in two decades inside the arena capturing the action at the Canadian Finals Rodeo, 17 years at the Calgary Stampede and countless gigs at various amateur association finals, and you have an impressive resume.

“My first time taking pictures at a rodeo was in 1989 at the St. Albert Rainmaker,” recalls Copeman, who took up photography as a hobby three years earlier. “When I looked at my pictures after, I thought I had bit off more than I could chew. I didn’t have any timing; I was terrible.”

“But I got the bug. Sales were still terrible, but I kept going to rodeos and working at my regular job. At about my third rodeo, I learned how to climb the fence and stay out of the way.” cowboycountrymagazine.com

ABOVE:

Covy Moore CovyMoore.ca

Sun flare at the Airdrie Pro Rodeo during the tiedown portion of the evening’s events in 2016

RIGHT:

Mike Copeman

MikeCopeman.com Steer wrestler Trigger Roy, 2006 Alberta High School Rodeo Finals

43

Pro Rodeo Canada Insider Covy Moore

WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

CovyMoore.ca

Jayne Thurston celebrates a quiet moment with husband and World Champion Saddle Bronc rider Zeke after claiming his first PRCA World Championship in 2016 at the Thomas & Mack Centre in Las Vegas, Nevada.

That leads into this piece of advice for any fledgling rodeo photographer.

“Climb early and climb often,” suggests Copeman. “You should be invisible in the arena. Just keep doing your job and enjoy what you’re doing.”

“Don’t just jump into it; learn all about the sport. Work your regular job until you’re making the same amount at both. You need to want it so bad, you’ll do anything. That’s how you get good.”

It was about 13 years after first picking up a camera that Billie-Jean Duff quit her regular job to make the leap to full-time photographer.

“It’s not easy,” affirms Duff of making a living with rodeo photography. “You never know if you’re going to make enough on a weekend to pay your gas bill or hotel room.”

“You’re selling on spec. You need to sell X amount of pictures to X amount of contestants each weekend to make a viable 44

income. Plus, you’ve got your expenses like fuel, insurance and equipment maintenance and upgrades — which are inevitable.”

Unlike Copeman and Duff, the journey to full-time rodeo photography didn’t begin as a hobby for Covy Moore. He graduated from photo-journalism school, worked in the newspaper industry for several years and had a stint shooting for U.S.-based motorsport.com.

“I tried to apply the marketing aspect of what I was doing with auto racing and newspapers to rodeo,” says Moore. “Those moments outside the rodeo arena are just as marketable for the sport.”

“I’ve always had the attitude that I’m working for the sport first and myself second. The better the sport does, the better I’ll do down the road. It can create a new earning structure outside of just selling to the athletes themselves. Do the sport justice, be in it for the sport.”

While shooting up to 1,000 frames during a rodeo performance, a photographer’s work isn’t finished when the action is done.

“For instance, I’ve been shooting at junior rodeos this summer,” begins Duff.

“After the performance, I’ll spend another 5–6 hours editing the pictures.”

And lastly, be prepared to take your lumps — literally.

“I’ve been clipped by several horses,” confirms Copeman. “Yes, they’re heavy, and yes it hurts.”

“I got run over at the CFR one year. It was more embarrassing than anything, although the horse did step on me in a bunch of different places — even had a perfect horseshoe on my butt. I went left instead of right and all of a sudden, I’m on the ground. I take a step, get hit, take a step, get hit, bang, bang, bang. I’m holding my camera trying not to get killed, and finally, it ended.” c

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49

COWBOY POETRY

Take Care of Yer Friends

By BAXTER BLACK, DVM

It makes a friend happy to see your success.

They’re proud of yer good side and forgive all the rest.

And that ain’t so easy, all of the time Sometimes I get crazy and seem to go blind!

Some of my friends drive big limousines Own ranches and banks and visit with queens.

And some of my friends are up to their necks In overdue notes and can’t write a check!

Yer friend just might take you on home Or remind you sometime that you’re not alone.

Or ever so gently pull you back to the ground When you think you can fly with no one around.

They’re singers or ropers or writers of prose And others, God bless ’em, can’t blow their own nose!

I guess bein’ friends don’t have nothin’ to do With talent or money or knowin’ who’s who.

A hug or a shake, whichever seems right Is the high point of givin’, I’ll tell ya tonight, All worldly riches and tributes of men Can’t hold a candle to the worth of a friend.

It’s a comf’terbul feelin’ when you don’t have to care ’Bout choosin’ your words or bein’ quite fair ’Cause friends’ll just listen and let go on by Those words you don’t mean and not bat an eye.

“Take Care of Yer Friends” was excerpted from Poems Worth Saving; published in 2013, Hardcover, 272 pages. baxterblack.com

PHOTO BY SIIM LUKKA

Friend is a word that I don’t throw around Though it’s used and abused, I still like the sound.

I save it for people who’ve done right by me And I know I can count on if ever need be.

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Live your own west.

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Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020